First houses razed near Mark Twain for new school in 2015

Feb. 24, 2014

Crews demolish several houses along Dakota Avenue south of 28th Street on Thursday to make room for a parking lot for the new Susan B. Anthony school to eventually replace Mark Twain. / Elisha Page / Argus Leader

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Demolition has begun on 10 houses along Dakota Avenue to make way for the parking lot for the new Susan B. Anthony Elementary School in central Sioux Falls.

After the houses are demolished, the contractor will install a gravel base and use that area for construction staging and parking, said Jeff Kreiter, operational services director for the Sioux Falls School District.

The final parking lot for the school, which will have about 90 parking stalls, is scheduled to be completed next fall or spring 2015.

Late last year, the district invited bids to try to sell the houses and garages, if the bidder would move the house. No bids were received, Kreiter said.

Construction on Susan B. Anthony will begin in the next few weeks, just south of Mark Twain Elementary at 28th Street and Dakota. Students will remain inside the current building for the 2014-2015 school year.

Kreither said safety fencing will go up first, and construction will begin as the weather and ground frost permits.

Once the new school is built, Mark Twain will be razed, and a new, permanent playground will be constructed over that site. Students from Longfellow Elementary will join Mark Twain students in the new school when it opens in August 2015.